From: owner-oppositeview-digest@smoe.org (oppositeview-digest) To: oppositeview-digest@smoe.org Subject: oppositeview-digest V3 #54 Reply-To: oppositeview@smoe.org Sender: owner-oppositeview-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-oppositeview-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk oppositeview-digest Saturday, February 24 2001 Volume 03 : Number 054 Today's Subjects: ----------------- OV: Universal Music update - [Jennifer Woyan ] Re: OV: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: OV/ romantics! ["B M" ] Re: OV: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: OV/ romantics! ["Josh Neas" ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 23 Feb 2001 09:14:03 -0600 From: Jennifer Woyan Subject: OV: Universal Music update - How will this affect the Dels' release (once the label actually tells people about it...)? http://www.dailynewslosangeles.com/business/articles/0201/23/biz04.asp Media giant plans online music club By Angela Doland Associated Press PARIS -- French media conglomerate Vivendi Universal says its joint music distribution venture with Sony will have tens of thousands of songs on the Internet by this summer, countering free music-swapping. But some analysts called Vivendi chairman Jean-Marie Messier's remarks an attempt to add luster to a months-old deal even as new questions emerge about who will step up to take Napster's place if the online free music exchange is closed down by legal action. In an interview published Thursday in the French financial newspaper La Tribune, Messier said the venture, called Duet, would have subscription and other listening services ready by this summer. "We are getting ready to license 50 percent of the world's music," Messier said, adding that he hoped other record labels would join the venture. But the report did not explain how the companies plan to implement the service, including technical details on how the files would be downloaded and paid for -- and how copyright protection might work. A Vivendi Universal spokesman confirmed the report but said he could give no further information. The interview came just one week after a California appeals court dealt Napster a potentially fatal blow, ordering the service to stop allowing the swapping of copyrighted songs. Napster is due back in federal court March 2, when Chief Judge Marilyn Hall Patel will specifically detail the portions of Napster's service that must be taken off-line. Music executives have been working on implementing their own legal alternatives to file-swapping, such as subscription services that would allow users to get music files for a monthly fee. The question remains, however, how to convince Napster's millions of users to start paying for a service that they currently get for free, and not to migrate to other free music services such as Gnutella. "The record label industry will gain control of Napster's activity, but it will have little control over Napster's former users unless it can provide people with a legitimate alternative," said Phil Leigh, a digital music analyst at Raymond James and Associates. Leigh expressed doubts about whether the subscription technology that Vivendi and Sony are planning to use, called the "Blue Matter," is user-friendly enough to attract former Napster users. He also said it was unclear how Vivendi would attract cross-licensing deals with other record companies, as such agreements have not worked in the past. In reaction to last week's legal setback, Napster on Tuesday offered to settle a copyright infringement lawsuit with five record labels, including Universal and Sony, by paying $150 million annually for five years. But record companies scoffed at Napster's offer. In the interview, Messier said Sony and Vivendi Universal were in talks with other potential partners, but he said they would not negotiate with Napster unless it followed the court's order. "People have often thought that a tie-up with Napster would be the only possibility, but I don't believe it is right to favor pirates," Messier said. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 23 Feb 2001 08:26:22 -0500 From: "B M" Subject: Re: OV: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: OV/ romantics! "Size of a Cow" (one of my all time faves) and songs of that ilk - but the US/Canadian contingent had never heard of them." Funny enough, I was listening to "Size of a Cow" last night when I got home from work (One of my faves too)! Oh and I DO live in the US, so some of us have heard of them. In the same mix, I had The Housemartins (who put on a great show here in Boston a few months back) "Perfect 10", hmmmm not quite sure what I was thinking about when I made that cd..... Bill ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 23 Feb 2001 18:30:55 From: "Josh Neas" Subject: Re: OV: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: OV/ romantics! >have heard of them. In the same mix, I had The Housemartins (who put on a >great show here in Boston a few months back) "Perfect 10", >hmmmm not quite >sure what I was thinking about when I made that cd..... My favourite Housemartins' song is "I Smell Winter." That song is soooooo catchy. :) josh. _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 23 Feb 2001 19:19:04 -0700 From: "L Perry" Subject: OV: Re Justin's Diary Entry I love his entry! He makes poetry out of the description of an ordinary studio, and his take on how people adapt to their environments is wonderful. I realize again why he is my favorite lyricist, and I share his opinion of Mariah Carey :) Hope he has quite a bit of free time in the immediate future to make some more entries. BTW, thanks to all who mentioned White Ladder by David Gray as being in their CD player. I got the CD last weekend, and I think it's great! Lauree in Tempe ------------------------------ End of oppositeview-digest V3 #54 *********************************